February 4, 2016 – Draper City is hosting an open house for public review of their draft Open Space Master Plan on February 9, 2016 from 6-8 pm in the Draper City Hall located at 1020 Pioneer Road in Draper, Utah. The plan encompasses the Traverse Ridge area, and includes the Corner Canyon trail network.
Draper City’s website notes that the Open Space Plan, “will contain a vision for City lands on the Traverse Mountain Range and suitable locations for recreation and conservation activities. It will also identify improve trailheads, trails, safety, management, and how to pay for the opportunities Draper citizens love.”
Cyclists are encouraged to get involved since the beloved Corner Canyon mountain bike trail network and Draper Cycle Park are included in or near the plan boundaries.
The Salt Lake Valley Trails Society, a new non-profit trails advocacy group for the Salt Lake Valley, is encouraging people to participate and comment on the draft master plan:
The Draper City Council has been meeting all year to come up with the Open Space Master Plan for the expansion of the Corner Canyon trail network. We believe that about 80% of the trail users are cyclists. Because of the huge economic, health, accessibility and quality of life benefits that cycling has, future development should reflect that opportunity. Cyclists are such a large percentage of the overall user group, that we should be planning to build MORE bikes-only, one way downhill trails (Rush or Maple Hollow type trails). Furthermore, user conflicts are a problem at Corner Canyon and having bikes-only, one direction trails is the one thing that has been shown through past efforts to be extremely successful in reducing (almost eliminating) those conflicts.
The Master Plan Committee tells us that the equestrians and hikers have been the most vocal and therefore they feel like this is what the public wants. They also tell us that several of the council members want to reduce the bike traffic in the canyon. These perceptions persist despite the significant and ongoing efforts of the cycling community to maintain trails and the cyclepark. Our feeling is if more one-way bike trails are built in the new area that could reduce the traffic and conflicts on the current trails in the lower Corner canyon network. As a community we need to make sure that the Master Plan Committee gets the message that we want MORE bikes-only trails then they are recommending.
You can make a difference! Show up to the public open house on TUESDAY, FEB. 9th, 6-8 PM at DRAPER CITY HALL and give them your opinion about future trail use. Let’s flood City Hall with the passionate views of the mountain bikers of the valley. Show city leaders that we care and that we appreciate the riding we have and are eager stewards of the trails.
For more information on the plan and on how to get involved, see: http://www.draper.ut.us/openspace
